There are some proposals that wouldn't affect me whatsoever, but I would be interested to see how well they work. The direct flight to USA is a prime example. I wasn't aware that you couldn't get a direct flight (I've only been abroad a few times and pay very little attention to airplanes other than that), but I'd guess it could be beneficial to those who require it!

Whilst hopeful having someone to throw their weight behind the scheme like Lord Adonis, will help and agreeing with a number of the points put forward, including the ones mentioned here.
I can't see much of it coming off soon.

* Metro to regional towns without a connection - whatever option is put forward, relying on a mix of public and inevitably private funds will lead to long delays.

* Direct flight to USA - much like the route buses have gone down, partnerships and cartels in the industry along with 'interchange hubs', mean this is unlikely to take off (excuse the pun) soon. Unless there is a major demand for direct flights, regular/scheduled stuff from Newcastle will continue to feed into Schipol, CDG, Heathrow and Dubai.
Comparing it to buses - as much as a direct link between Bishop Auckland and Sunderland might benefit commuters and private enterprise, unless the operators see a massive demand or major profit, it isn't likely to happen soon. You can still make the journey with a change at Durham. The same can be said for flights between Newcastle and New York...

* Return of Ferry service to Norway - What was a vital service for oil workers and Norwegian tourists at Christmas, was stopped several years ago, not long after DFDS bought out the previous operator. Seeing it wasn't making enough money from their point of view, they axed it not long after axing the route to Sweden... Having used the service a number of times, both growing up and as an adult, I would love to see it come back.

* Improve A1, A19 and A194 - this goes without saying. The Tyne Tunnel 2 has made a major difference, but junction and traffic flow improvements need sorting sooner rather than later, including dualling sections beyond Morpeth.

* Create a Newcastle ring road. - see above. Not sure it would go down well with homeowners or environmentalists though.

* Set up a new agency which is like Nexus for the North East - as long as it wasn't a drain on taxpayers money, wasn't a talking shop for the 'old boys network', actually worked and made a difference, then I think it would help with public transport integration.

* Direct flight to USA - much like the route buses have gone down, partnerships and cartels in the industry along with 'interchange hubs', mean this is unlikely to take off (excuse the pun) soon. Unless there is a major demand for direct flights, regular/scheduled stuff from Newcastle will continue to feed into Schipol, CDG, Heathrow and Dubai.
Comparing it to buses - as much as a direct link between Bishop Auckland and Sunderland might benefit commuters and private enterprise, unless the operators see a massive demand or major profit, it isn't likely to happen soon. You can still make the journey with a change at Durham. The same can be said for flights between Newcastle and New York...

I'm sure that American Airlines had signed an agreement in 2001, to operate a daily flight to JFK, but pulled out in the wake 9/11 and downturn in air travel. Newcastle International Airport had already started work to provide air bridges for their use. Eventually Emirates were persuaded to come in, and the rest they say is history.

Very few regional airports have direct scheduled flights to anything else but big hubs like Schipol, Frankfurt, Heathrow etc.
Gatwick is one of the few non-hub airports that operates a major level of point to point stuff, whereas the likes of Newcastle, East Midlands, Bristol etc don't operate anything like the same level of direct flights

(15 May 2013, 9:50 pm)Andreos1 Wrote: Very few regional airports have direct scheduled flights to anything else but big hubs like Schipol, Frankfurt, Heathrow etc.
Gatwick is one of the few non-hub airports that operates a major level of point to point stuff, whereas the likes of Newcastle, East Midlands, Bristol etc don't operate anything like the same level of direct flights

Bristol used to have a direct US route which gave NCL hope but then it was axed after 5 years of flying in 2010.

I don't mind hubs, I'd love a link to London City again but it was tried and failed and it looks almost certain that NCL is going to lose the Gatwick route shortly

Yeah I was reading about them looking to sell their selling their slots at Gatwick. When British airways shifted the majority of their stuff and axed their Gatwick route, whoever picked it up wasn't going to make millions.

London City is ideal and I can't understand it failing.
It's minutes from the city and if marketed/priced correctly, would prove serious competition for people heading to London

(15 May 2013, 10:25 pm)Andreos1 Wrote: Yeah I was reading about them looking to sell their selling their slots at Gatwick. When British airways shifted the majority of their stuff and axed their Gatwick route, whoever picked it up wasn't going to make millions.

London City is ideal and I can't understand it failing.
It's minutes from the city and if marketed/priced correctly, would prove serious competition for people heading to London

It was Eastern who operated LCY and it was done as a premium business service, if you consider some Eastern flights to Birmingham cost as much as £400 return you can imagine the LCY cost.

Going back to this, there really does need to be investment alongside the Metro, the creation of hubs for areas that don't have a Metro to get a chance to grow.

Take the new housing in Birtley/Portobello. Now most of this is executive housing so perhaps not a bus market yet the only bus that does serve there is the perpetually late X25 which doesn't run on a Sunday/Public Hol.

Now developers are pushing ahead regardless of the lack of transport, yet the infrastructure is there, new roads have been built, bus layby's have been built but the development is only really happening here because planning regulations have been loosened and areas of growth (around Metro Stations for example) are saturated (look at the growth around Longbenton)

The North East has the lowest level of 2nd car ownership for 'luxury' reasons. What does this mean? It means people are relying on the car throttling our already beleaguered road network because public transport doesn't exist to a good enough standard.

Take the Team Valley, I managed an office with 2,000 employees. On a survey we found that 18 used public transport to get to work and 6 of those were undergoing a test. We liaised a lot with Nexus to drive this as a business but the response from Nexus was poor, a pdf of corporate ticket savings and a lot of the response from employees was in the region of 'it would take 2 buses, it costs more, its unreliable and a few replied 'stressful'

The thing with the x25, it only serves the edge of that new development. The amount of housing (old and new) in that area with potential passengers is massive - yet their public transport needs are ignored.

Slightly different to that and obviously not to the scale of Team Valley, but Rainton Bridge Industrial Est was totally ignored until NPower struck up the deal with GNE.
There are any amount of small businesses, suppliers to automotive manufacturers etc, who are all major employers, but werent important enough to attract an operator to transport staff to and from work.

Traffic off the A19 at Doxford Park was percieved to be so bad, contractors were called in and thus extended and widened 1 slip road - surely the bigger picture needs looking at, such as why traffic in that direction is so high and to improve the general transport infrastructure, not just a specific slip road.

(20 May 2013, 11:32 am)Andreos1 Wrote: The thing with the x25, it only serves the edge of that new development. The amount of housing (old and new) in that area with potential passengers is massive - yet their public transport needs are ignored.

Slightly different to that and obviously not to the scale of Team Valley, but Rainton Bridge Industrial Est was totally ignored until NPower struck up the deal with GNE.
There are any amount of small businesses, suppliers to automotive manufacturers etc, who are all major employers, but werent important enough to attract an operator to transport staff to and from work.

Traffic off the A19 at Doxford Park was percieved to be so bad, contractors were called in and thus extended and widened 1 slip road - surely the bigger picture needs looking at, such as why traffic in that direction is so high and to improve the general transport infrastructure, not just a specific slip road.

I know that the southbound sliproad off the A19 at Durham Road junction was widened and extended due to very high level of volume of traffic in rush hour which was causing delays on the A19 as traffic was at a craul and even stopped on the A19 Southbound. the Highway Agency needs to have a proper look at the A19 section to see what could be done due to high volume of traffic and traffic accidents (A19 has a bad reputation of being a accident blackspot).

(20 May 2013, 11:32 am)Andreos1 Wrote: The thing with the x25, it only serves the edge of that new development. The amount of housing (old and new) in that area with potential passengers is massive - yet their public transport needs are ignored.

I know exactly what you mean. I nearly bought a house there 18 months ago, but one of the major factors for deciding against was the public transport links. Last thing I wanted to be doing is walking up the bank from Birtley when its chucking down with rain.

It's interesting as to why they don't reroute something like the M2 to serve. Same could be said about Biddick Woods and Teal Farm though. Teal Farm being the interesting one, due to the development going on - which includes a new pub and about 5 or 6 retail units.

Biddick Woods has had a number of commercial services, normally the Houghton - Newcastle services, which at one point worked on a 30min frequency (x3 and x4). GNE axed them and now Nexus have to fund the hourly 37.

I get what your saying about Teal Farm. At Elba Park there is/was plans for a pub too (not sure about the retail units though).

As for Birtley, the 23 used to run to Malone Gardens - that was all changed just as the new houses were being constructed.
I do believe there is some sort of Taxi Bus, but it only serves a small portion of the estate.

(20 May 2013, 8:05 pm)Andreos1 Wrote: As for Birtley, the 23 used to run to Malone Gardens - that was all changed just as the new houses were being constructed.
I do believe there is some sort of Taxi Bus, but it only serves a small portion of the estate.

Yeah the 23 ran from Vigo Bridge - Birtley East Primary/Malone Gardens under the red and white Northern minilink brand. Then OK took it on with Metroriders before GNE's solo's took it back and the Classic had it (sending on numerous times a double decker - have a look on streetview for what a stupid idea that was!)

Then Nexus messed it all up by sending it to Washington and then up to where the new houses are (when there were NO new houses ) and replacing Malone Gardens with the TB14 (a van basically)

Then the 23 was withdrawn before the number was reincarnated to replace the 184.

Anyway, the logic of intergration and infrastructure says it all when the 23 bus that used to take people down to Birtley was withdrawn. Now the people in these new executive houses where there are no shops etc unless you drive have no bus service and unsurprisingly...use the car

Appreciate it is a funded route now and has been for a few years, but initially I dont think it was. Commercially it isnt viable, so Nexus obviously think the 23 is a service which needs funding - however, integrating the 23 and 184 has left a massive gap at one end of the town, which commercial operators (and Nexus) dont seem keen on filling.
Councillors in Birtley were involved in re-routing the M2/M3 from its original route around Barley Mow and also at the other end of Birtley, so that it incorportated areas not covered by a bus service. As a result, there is a section in Vigo, where buses going to the Town Centre, operate at similar times, in the opposite direction.
No integration, obviously very poor communication and Im not sure who benefits from it.